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Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities Transcript Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities Leonid Kozhara Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine Chair: James Sherr Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House 13 May 2013 The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chatham House, its staff, associates or Council. Chatham House is independent and owes no allegiance to any government or to any political body. It does not take institutional positions on policy issues. This document is issued on the understanding that if any extract is used, the author(s)/ speaker(s) and Chatham House should be credited, preferably with the date of the publication or details of the event. Where this document refers to or reports statements made by speakers at an event every effort has been made to provide a fair representation of their views and opinions, but the ultimate responsibility for accuracy lies with this document’s author(s). The published text of speeches and presentations may differ from delivery. Transcript: Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities James Sherr: Good evening everyone and welcome. For those who don’t know me, I am James Sherr, associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia programme. We are very fortunate to have Minister Leonid Kozhara with us this evening. He follows now a well-trodden path, because his predecessor, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko has also spoken here. Some of you will remember President Yushchenko has spoken in the past, former Prime Minister Tymoshenko as well, so we at Chatham House are very flattered to be the object of so much high-level attention from Ukraine. It is always a very interesting time for Ukraine in Europe, this time it is very interesting for two reasons. First because there is a feeling of momentum and an atmosphere that a climax is upon us in connection with the very significant negotiations being pursued between Ukraine and the European Union over the Association Agreement, which as many of you will recall, has already been negotiated, the terms are set, the document is initialled but it has not yet been signed and there are strong hopes in Kyiv that it will be at the summit in Riga in November. At the same time, there is some apprehension because some voices in the EU are suggesting that the Riga summit is a now or never chance for this extremely significant document, at a time when Ukraine is under pressure from other quarters and there are other integration projects in Europe and Eurasia to consider. The second reason this is an interesting time for Ukraine is that Ukraine is now chairman in office of the OSCE, and there are always an agenda of significant problems at the OSCE, and Ukraine has some priorities of its own. So in both respects, Minister Kozhara has agreed this evening to speak about Ukraine’s overall foreign policy priorities. Leonid Kozhara is by training both a constitutional lawyer and a professional diplomat. He is a lecturer on constitutional law at the Kyiv State Institute of Law, he has served for many years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the diplomatic corps, latterly as the deputy head of mission in Washington and as ambassador in Sweden, and he has occupied his current post as minister of foreign affairs since December last year. He is also the senior foreign policy spokesman of the governing Party of Regions, and the adviser on foreign affairs to President Viktor Yanukovych. Leonid Kozhara: It is my extreme pleasure to be here this evening with you, and not only because this is my final event in London and I am leaving back for Kyiv, and www.chathamhouse.org 2 Transcript: Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities not because the weather is fine here. Yesterday we had 28 degrees centigrade in Kyiv. I also respect this institution very much and, James, I believe that not only Ukrainian noble speakers were speaking at Chatham House, but many other European and overseas prominent leaders as well. So I would start my formal speech, because James said it is on the record. Ladies and gentlemen, excellencies, and I recognize here ambassadors from some of Ukraine’s friends, friendly countries, Azerbaijan and the others. First and foremost, let me cordially thank the Royal Institute of International Affairs for this occasion to present my country’s foreign policy priorities before such a distinguished audience, in such a thought-provoking environment. It’s an honour for me to speak in the research institution which has been ranked top non-US think tank for five years running. I don’t believe in sterile and flamboyant monologues, so let me just make some brief observations regarding Ukraine’s foreign and international policies and to return to the lively discussion afterwards. When many talk about Ukraine vis-à-vis Europe as two separate entities, the Ukrainians sometimes get disappointed. Ukraine has always been Europe, it never in its history drifted away from it by its own will, nor geographically, neither culturally. Ukraine was a part of Europe when daughters of the Kievan prince Yaroslav the Wise became in the mid-11th century consort to western princes, possibly included Edward Aetheling, son of King Edmund Ironside. Ukraine was still a part of Europe when our nation fought the Nazis and founded the United Nations together with the United Kingdom and other nations of Europe and beyond. Of course, history is not an excuse to pretend for something for free in the present. Today’s Europe even under crisis means democracy, efficiency, solidarity. We should deliver on that, if we dare call our observations the European nation. Nobody will pay the bill for us. I am proud to say that notwithstanding all challenges, the current Ukrainian administration is able to combine sobriety and competence in governing economy and finance with large-scale reforms. There is no such notion in politics as popular reforms. Reforms are always unpopular and Ukraine is no exception to this rule. Still, after three years of unpopular measures, Mr Yanukovych is the most popular politician and the Party of Regions is the most-voted-for party in my country. Reforms are the core and essence of Ukraine’s policy of European integration. Making life better from within, recreating Europe inside Ukraine, that is our precise goal. The president and the Party of Regions team delivered quite a lot of reforms in the spheres that have not ever been tackled www.chathamhouse.org 3 Transcript: Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities in two decades; a new tax code, a pension reform, administrative customs, judiciary reforms, just to name a few of them. Some of them had a mixed output, some need a fresh restart, but there are also some widely acknowledged successes which have been praised internationally. For instance, the pension reform was estimated as one of the most socially balanced reforms in Europe by the World Bank. The World Custom Organization has commended the new custom code for its compliance with international and European standards, and the Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, together with the Council of Europe experts, regards the new criminal procedure code as indeed one of the best in Europe. Sometimes we even change good results for better, when there is room for improvement. This is the case with the electoral law that had been adopted by the majority and the opposition bi-partisan vote. It served well the 2012 elections. Nevertheless, following the recommendations by the EU and the international observers, we are improving this law once again. I mentioned already the criminal procedure code. We have reformed the code which had not been changed since the Soviet rule, to bring its provisions and practices in accordance with Western jurisprudence. Up to 15,000 individuals have been released from remand detention facilities under the provisions of this new code. While we remain firm and devoted in continuing the reforms and clearly need support from Europe, and we take European standards and talking and reference point, the most effective support mechanism is certainly the Association Agreement with the European Union. Both sides have made clear that they want to sign the agreement by the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius this November. We believe prompt signing of the agreement is in the interest of both sides. The association opens the EU market for Ukraine and starts a period of vigorous adjustments to the EU standards and norms in many spheres, but the association is essential for you too. With a highly educated population of 46 million, we offer the EU a skilled workforce, a growing market of middle- class consumers, the third-largest shale gas deposits on the continent, and farm land that has been called once the ‘bread basket of Europe’. The reforms I mentioned before fit perfectly with the preparation for signing the Association Agreement. We expect we could crown the Vilnius summit with this signing and count very much on the positive stand of the United Kingdom. Another sphere of intense dialogue with the European Union is visa-free regime. We are very near to finishing the first phase of the visa liberalization action plan and to starting its second phase. We strongly hope www.chathamhouse.org 4 Transcript: Ukraine's Foreign Policy Priorities the results will be judged by themselves and not by political arguments. The vote last month in the European Parliament on amending the current visa liberalization agreement is an encouraging step in the right direction. Ladies and gentlemen, now let me make some remarks about other dimensions of Ukrainian foreign policy. I am here in my dual capacity, as rightly James said, as foreign minister and the OSCE chairman-in-office with 57 participating states, stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok.
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